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Two Weeks in the Cote D'Azur

We have finally decided to stay within southern France on our upcoming two week summer vacation in late July / early August. We are a family of fours (my husband and I and our two boys, ages 15 and 17, who enjoy travel as much as we do).

We believe there is enough to visit in these two weeks and as well give us time to relax and simply enjoy the time away.

We have return flights in and out of Nice (we booked direct flights at a great price) and we are wondering where we should base ourselves in addition to Nice. We do not want to move around too much and three different places would be the most we would consider (two would be even better). We were thinking about a second base in Hyeres as we would like to visit the Island of Porquerolles. If you have any other beautiful towns to base out of, please let us know.

As we are leaving from Nice, we would want to stay a few days in Nice when we arrive and a few days before we leave, and use the time in the middle to travel along the Cote D'Azur and maybe go further afield (we will rent a car for the time we are outside Nice). We do want to visit St-Tropez, even for a day, but we know that getting there by car during the summer is a mess. We would consider the 2.5 hour boat ride from Nice, but would it be better to stay a few days in Sainte Maxime and take the 20 minute boat shuttle from there?

We have made a list of the towns and villages we would like to see, but we understand that seeing them all will not be possible.

Quite near Vence up in the hills is a town called Tourettes-sur-Loup that is so picturesque and Tom's ice cream shop has the best lavender ice cream I have ever tasted.

Just a thought----I'd go from Haute-de-Cagnes(driving up the hill to the Grimaldi Museum which is small & outstanding, parking in the garage where you watch a huge fork lift take your car down into the mountain. Also the Renoir House is here, again small and fun to see his studio, to St. Paul-de-Vence, skip Vence, to Tourettes-sur-Loup, to Grasse.

It's a beautiful area and so much to see. take in what you can in the time alloted--you'll probably be back. And, yes, the road to St. Tropez is long,long, long and slow.

Well, I see you have planned a lot of visits. Honestly you won't can to visit all the cities, as you said. In summer, with the holidays, the roads are crowed, and it could you slow down. Maybe you should select fewer cities and enjoy what you could see. Moreover in southern of France there is beautiful landscapes to see, so you can a lot of different walks in the same city.

Emma, I agree with you entirely and thanks for your advice. The list I included are the towns we wanted to see but we want to know which ones should be at the top of the list. Any ideas?

Tpayt, do you think staying in Sainte Maxime in order to visit St-Tropez is a good idea? As well, thanks for your recommendations. I will look into them.

Is Hyeres a good second place to base ourselves in order to see Porquerolles and the other towns I mentioned? Or should we just stay within the Nice area for the entire time (maybe basing out of Nice and a second town)?

IMO, I'd stay east and see some of the places on your list. After several trips to the area, St. Tropez just wasn't worth the drive. I'd only see it if we were to stay close by. And Gordes, Lourmarin, etc. should be saved for another trip

With your time frame you'll have plenty to see closer to Nice. The towns and the landscape is all so beautiful I wouldn't want to rush it.

Eze, Villefranche, Cap St. Martin(Rothschild & Greek Houses) Antibes(the walk along the rocks from Garoupe beach) Monaco(not the casino) even Cannes, and the rest of your list, not to mention Nice itself will fill up your days with delightful experiences. If you stay in Nice or Anribes you can head out every day and see many wonderful sights.

Yikes! I sound like a travel agent or something, but we just love the area.

We've spent 16 weeks vacationing on the Cote d'Azur and will be there for two more a week from today.

St Maxime would be an excellent place to stay & visit St Tropez (get there VERY early to avoid crowds), Bormes la Mimosas, Gassin, Grimaud (not the Port), and Ramatouelle.

Gordes, Lourmarin, etc are too far away for a day trip - save them for your next visit to the region when you can stay in Provence.

For three locations, I would stay in Nice & visit all the coastal towns from there by public transportation. Then near Vence or St Paul to visit these two cities plus Tourrettes, Gourdon, Peille, Peillon, Gorbio, and the spectacular Nice Hinterland (by car). Then Ste Maxime. Make reservations ASAP - it is already VERY late, & you are going to have some trouble getting accommodations. You'll be there in super peak season. The economy is up & more people are traveling this year than in the recent past.

Do you have my 27 page itinerary for the Cote d'Azur & Provence? I've sent it to over 3,000 people on Fodors. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail. Do so soon - we're leaving for France in less than a week.